Stormwater pipe replacement causes temporary parking limitations

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COLUMBIA - Some metered parking will be blocked Wednesday for the Storm Water Division to replace a deteriorated storm drainage pipe on the north side of East Broadway.

Broadway won't be closed for the project, but 11 parking spots will be blocked off.

Assistant Director of Columbia Utilities Department David Sorell said a property owner was doing work outside of his building when he noticed the pipe was in poor condition.

When Storm Water Division put a camera through the pipe, it found the bottom of the pipe had rotted.

"If a pipe is in deteriorating condition, sometimes when it rains the water instead of falling in the pipe will go out the holes in the pipe and the go down the outside of the pipe and take soil with it," Sorrell said. "That ends up causing sink holes to show up."

The sinkholes haven't happened yet, but could if it isn't fixed.

"We want to replace the pipe before the road does end up with a sink hole under it and caving in."

Along the pipeline are restaurants and apartments including Jimmy Johns and Hot Box Cookies.

The work is expected to take three days, and was scheduled to be done before the mill and overlay on Broadway next week.